Clipboard with slate surface

ABSTRACT

A RECTANGULAR SHAPED BOARD WHOSE SURFACE ON BOTH SIDES THEREOF IS OF SLATE OR OTHER MATERIAL THAT WILL ACCEPT CHALK AS THE WRITING MEDIUM THEREOF. INDICIA OF A BASKETBALL COURT, FOOTBALL FIELD OR OTHER FIELD OF ATHLETIC CONTEST ARE ALIGNED IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF THE BOARD WITH A CLIP AT ONE END THEREOF TO HOLD OVERLYING PAPERS OR OTHER MATERIALS.

I Feb. 2, 1971 L J c Y 3,560,092

CLIPBOARD WITH SLATE SURFACE Filed July 24, 1968 L J Coney.

INVIL'N'I'UK.

United States Patent 3,560,092 CLIPBOARD WITH SLATE SURFACE L J Coney,Box 265, Roxton, Tex. 75477 Filed July 24, 1968, Ser. No. 747,270 Int.Cl. B421? 1/02; B431 1/10 US. Cl. 35-62 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A rectangular shaped board whose surface on both sidesthereof is of slate or other material that will accept chalk as thewriting medium therefor. Indicia of a basketball court, football fieldor other field of athletic contest are aligned in the longitudinaldirection of the board with a clip at one end thereof to hold overlyingpapers or other materials.

Heretofore, when coaches or athletic directors desired to keep aplay-by-play record of football, basketball or similar games while inprogress or if they desired to work up a new play for such contest whileon the practice field or during a game it was necessary to do so on asheet of paper held on a clipboard, or to have a slate board. This wasinconvenient as the piles or sheaf of scrap paper required becamecumbersome or the blackboard had to be lined or in some way oriented todemonstrate to the players the course of the play.

The instant invention provides a clipboard whose surfaces are slate orcovered in a similar chalk producing surface material. On one or both ofthe planar surfaces thereof are reproduced the indicia of a basketball,football or other diagram of an athletic field of contest. The coach orathletic director then could keep a record of the course of a game, ordiagram new plays, or generally note the movements of players on thereproduction of the athletic field. The indicia is permanentlyreproduced on the planar surfaces so that the erasure of the chalk wouldnot disturb them. In this way repeated and rapid presentations of playsor movements could be done while always being able to orientate them onthe athletic field on which the players are currently on. The clip partof the device allows papers or overlying sheets to be retained thereon,or allows the board to be used in the normal manner of a clipboard.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a simple butunique record keeping device for athletic contests.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a slatelike surfacewith permanent indicia thereon representing the outline of a field ofathletic contest.

It is a further object of this device to provide a slate.- like surfacefor recording athletic contests while maintaining the function of aclipboard.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a clipboardwith a slate-like surface. whose entire surface is usable for writingthereon.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as 'more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts ,throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device showing a basketball courtreproduced thereon.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the back of the device showing a football fieldreproduced thereon.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral generally indicates thedevice while numeral 12 designates the board portion thereof and thenumeral 14 designates the clip assembly attached thereto. The board 12is of elongated rectangular shape, that is the long sides 16 areconsiderably longer than the width 18 of the board. The ratio of theside 16 to 18 is roughly 2 /2 or 3 to 1, respectively. This is so chosenbecause the similar ratio of length to width of a basketball court,football field, soccer field or other field of similar athletic contestis roughly, 2 to 1. With the size of the board thus chosen a field canbe shown on the board in proper scale with room at the end of the boardto put a clip thereon with papers and other material held thereby andnot overlap onto the reproduction of the playing surface. As shown inFIG. 1, a basketball court 20 is drawn to exact scale with the widththereof aligned with the width 18 of the board and the length of theboard aligned with the length 16 of the board. With the ratio of 2 /2 or3 to 1 this leaves a clear area 22 beyond the end of the court on theend of the board. This then leaves room for the clip assembly 14 to beplaced thereon, which could also hold the eraser 23 and a chalk chuck 24without infringing on the confines of the playing surface representedthereon. The board 12 being constructed of slate or covered with aslate-like material} the background will be of a dark color, for examplegreen or black, and the confines of the playing surface can berepresented in white thereby producing a sharp contrast which coupledwith the use of the chalk will make the writing and plays diagrammedthereon easy to see. With the basketball court reproduced in exact scalethereon in permanent white marking the complete details of the court canbe shown, such as the foul circle and the foul line therein, and theback boards and baskets. The center circle, and the restraining circletherearound can also be shown as well as the mid-court lines and whatever indicia may be needed to graphically illustrate the playing surfaceto the players. With the surface thus reproduced on the board, the boardcan be orientated with the playing surface so that players can readilysee their positiori and assignments with regard to the court that theywill be playing on. This obviously simplifies the teaching process ofthe coach.

In FIG. 3 the back of the board is shown with a football gridironreproduced thereon. As mentioned hereinbefore, the football gridiron andthe basketball court have the same general ratio of 2 to 1, length towidth, respectively, so that the gridiron can be represented thereonwith an empty space 28 remaining at the top of the board. The gridironis shown reproduced in exact scale to the same minute detail of thebasketball court, for example the yard line markers, the end zone, theextra point line, the kick-off marks at the 40 yard lines, and theinbound hash marks. If desired, a basic interior line of five men andthe quarter back can be permanently marked on the board as illustratedat 30. As most every T formation play will be run from a formationcontaining this basic unit this can be represented permanently on theboard to facilitate the quick drafting of a play thereon. This wouldpermit a coach to diagram a play during the course of a game to be usedduring the contest. As can be seen in FIG. 3 with the aforementionedratios of length to width the clear area 28 being at the end of thegridiron, other notes or articles may be attached thereon while notinter fering with the representation of the field and the use thereof.

While the device has been shown with a basketball court on the frontside and a gridiron on the rear side thereof, it can readily be seenthat any combination of athletic fields could be represented thereon. Asmentioned hereinbefore, soccer, Rugby and Canadian football fields havethe same general length to width ratio as the basketball court andfootball gridiron. Thus the clipboard can be designed to suit a coachparticipating in any one of these well-known sports. Also, while twodifferent playing surfaces have been shown on opposite sides of theboard it can readily be understood that a playing surface could be shownon one side of the board with the opposite side thereof left blank toprovide a board to flash signals or take other notes thereon during thecourse of a contest. The clip assembly 14 provides a convenient holderfor the eraser and chalk chuck which may be used with the board, and ifdesired the front of the board could be left blank, to hold notesthereunder with the reproduction of a playing surface on the backthereof.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A clipboard comprising a rigid rectangular panel of a length two andone-half to three times its Width, the opposite side faces of said panelhaving different scale rectangular playing field gridirons reproducedthereon, extending lengthwise of said panel and spaced more closely toone end portion of said panel and the other end portion of the panel,said gridirons being of contrasting colors and at least the faceportions of said panel on which said gridirons are formed being suitablefor marking thereon with chalk, a clip assembly carried by the other endpor- 4 tion of said panel and spaced lengthwise of the latter from thecorresponding ends of said gridirons, and a chalk eraser removablyengaged and clamped to said other end portion of said panel by said clipassembly in position spaced lengthwise of said panel from the adjacentend of corresponding gridiron.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said gridirons comprise basketballand football gridirons.

3. The combination of claim 1 including a chalk chuck provided withmeans for removable support from said clipboard.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 369,663 '9/ 1-887 Swanen 621,766,087 6/1930 Sullivan 3561X 1,927,695 9/ 1933 Andreas 3529 2,417,8793/ 1947 Merritt 35-62UX 2,579,105 12/ 1951 Baldine 35-29 2,876,022 31959 Kroviak 2467.7X 3,127,649 4/ 1964 Linsenmayer 24-67.7

FOREIGN PATENTS 130,057 10/1932 Austria 3562 HARLAND S. SKOGQUIST,Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. Z4-67.7; 35-29

